# 'Appetite for Destruction' or 'Nevermind'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688 "2012-04-13T19:12:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/21 "2012-04-13T22:35:48Z")
_Appetite for Destruction_ might be the more entertaining album but _Nevermind_ is the more important album. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/22 "2012-04-13T22:57:22Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > _Appetite for Destruction_ is one of the best hard rock albums of all time (heck, I think it’s one of the best albums of any genre). That’s no knock on _Nevermind_, but it’s not quite in the same class. > > It’s unfortunate that GnR went rapidly downhill from there. Not a big fan of User Your Illusion I & II? The thing is, AfD came out around the same time as Def Leppard’s Hysteria, Motley Crue’s Girls, Girls, Girls in 1987 and a year before Metallica’s …And Justice For All in 1988. And that ended up being the peak of hard rock / hair metal music. The late 80s ended up being a bit of a musical wasteland after than point. Until Nevermind signaled the beginning of alternative rock as the dominant form of rock music That said, I was never a huge Nirvana fan. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/23 "2012-04-13T23:19:02Z")
[This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWz-eCYqcXk) was the first time I heard Nirvana. It absolutely blew my mind. I don’t remember the first time I heard “Welcome to the Jungle.” That might be due to my age: I was 8 in '87 and had just turned 13 when I watched that episode of SNL. I own both albums. While I still dust off _Appetite_ occasionally, I haven’t listened to _Nevermind_ in years. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/24 "2012-04-13T23:55:55Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Nevermind spoke to a generation, but AFD is timeless. Boy, that’s a fact; my dad had a copy before I did. > [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > [This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWz-eCYqcXk) was the first time I heard Nirvana. It absolutely blew my mind. I don’t remember the first time I heard “Welcome to the Jungle.” That might be due to my age: I was 8 in '87 and had just turned 13 when I watched that episode of SNL. I own both albums. While I still dust off _Appetite_ occasionally, I haven’t listened to _Nevermind_ in years. See, I watched that again and it just didn’t _do_ anything for me. I guess it’s pretty clear that I don’t ‘get’ Nirvana as a whole! However, the first time (and every subsequent time) that I heard [You Know You’re Right](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv96yJYhk3M&ob=av2e) I love it. That’s some good shit right there. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/25 "2012-04-14T00:04:58Z")
I swear to god Sicks Ate just outed himself as Chuck Klosterman. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/26 "2012-04-14T00:16:00Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I swear to god Sicks Ate just outed himself as Chuck Klosterman. I’m not familiar with his writings, and it’s too much to Google right now..care to succinctly state your case? Oh, and don’t I wish? That’d be sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/27 "2012-04-14T00:17:26Z")
As a songwriter, both albums are genius. As a guitarist, AfD is far better than _Nevermind_ and also is much better arranged from song to song. The main difference is that AfD was a slow boil. It was realeased in July 1987 but didn’t really chart until August 1988 with Sweet Child"OI Mine ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/28 "2012-04-14T00:26:09Z")
I’m absolutely torn between the two (Rush does nothing for me, except the bass on “Tom Sawyer” is good). I haven’t listened to Nevermind in a long, long time and I’ve had some great listens to AfD in the past few years. But looking at the track listing of both, when I hum the songs from both records, I lean toward Nevermind. The problem for me is that AfD really takes off when I hear Izzy’s rhythm guitar get going. I’m going to go with AfD because I think “Something in the Way” just isn’t the right closer. If “Endless Nameless” were the closer, then Nevermind would win. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/29 "2012-04-14T02:37:01Z")
I thought GnR was crap back then and I still do. _Nevermind_ is infinitely more important than anything GnR ever did. That being said, I actually think Soundgarden is the best of all the “grunge” bands. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/30 "2012-04-14T02:49:26Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I still listen to Nirvana occasionally and never liked Guns ‘n’ Roses at all, so… not a tough choice over here. Yeah. I still own many several Nirvana cds, and…which album was “November Rain” on? I owned that one too, but never listened to any of the other songs on it. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/31 "2012-04-14T03:16:31Z")
Great question, great albums, tough choice. I went with Nirvana. Joe ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/32 "2012-04-14T03:18:27Z")
Wow, tough choice. When I bought the cassette of AFD, I was rocked by the music and shocked by the cover art of the robot rapist standing over the the violated girl. I also was rocked by “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I’m an adult now. I tend to like musicianship. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/33 "2012-04-14T05:43:30Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > That being said, I actually think Soundgarden is the best of all the “grunge” bands. 😉 I’m not a bit Soundgarden fan, but you wouldn’t get any argument from me with that. Of the iconic Seattle grunge bands (Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains), they were certainly the most interesting musically. Plus they had Matt Cameron, perhaps my favorite rock drummer of the past couple decades. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/34 "2012-04-14T05:53:27Z")
Soundgarden was, or is, amazing and they seemed to go through the most musical evolution of any of those bands. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/35 "2012-04-14T05:56:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m not a bit Soundgarden fan, but you wouldn’t get any argument from me with that. Of the iconic Seattle grunge bands (Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains), they were certainly the most interesting musically. Plus they had Matt Cameron, perhaps my favorite rock drummer of the past couple decades. Matt Cameron is currently in Pearl Jam. He has been with them at least as long as he was with Soundgarden. Interestingly, Pearl Jam is the only one of those bands that never broke up and is still together. Their longevity means something. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/36 "2012-04-14T05:57:47Z")
> [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > Matt Cameron is currently in Pearl Jam. Being a big fan of Matt Cameron, I know that, of course. 🙂 I’ve watched my share of “Matt Cam” (or whatever it was called) on my brother’s Pearl Jam DVDs (he’s the big PJ fan in the house. I’ve seen them live once, and they do put on a great show.) ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/37 "2012-04-14T15:30:33Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Wow, tough choice. > When I bought the cassette of AFD, I was rocked by the music and shocked by the cover art of the robot rapist standing over the the violated girl. > I also was rocked by “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” > > I’m an adult now. > > I tend to like musicianship. Wow, I must have been drunk when I posted that. I didn’t mean to imply that either band were bad musicians. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/38 "2012-04-14T15:35:26Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Wow, I must have been drunk when I posted that. I didn’t mean to imply that either band were bad musicians. Aw, you’ve ruined it! I took your post to mean exactly that, and actually thought about it while I made breakfast. Now all that thought was wasted :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/39 "2012-04-14T16:04:41Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Aw, you’ve ruined it! I took your post to mean exactly that, and actually thought about it while I made breakfast. Now all that thought was wasted :dubious: Have a drink. ---
**Author:** ![Lilacs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lilacs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilacs)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688/40 "2012-04-14T16:13:55Z")
I choose Nevermind. It’s personal. I hate Axl Rose’s voice. If Guns N Roses had a better vocalist, perhaps I’d choose Appetite. Both had influence, but Nirvana broke the barrier. Plus they really pissed of Metallica and that’s always a plus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/appetite-for-destruction-or-nevermind/618688.md?page=3)